Celebrating World Refugee Awareness Month

Arts and culture are some of the most fundamental forms of self- and community-identification humans use to mold their identities and share their stories. Refugee populations are contributing to their new American communities through the arts as a means of sharing their cultures, histories, stories and above all, shaping their identities in a new environment. BuildaBridge facilitates such efforts with refugees from over ten countries through the Refugee Project - a multi-faceted program with memberships in two city-wide collaboratives designed to assist refugees, at all stages of resettlement in identifying adjustment strategies based on the strengths of their communities. The Refugee Project supports and facilitates art-making experiences for refugees as they pursue success, recovery, hope, healing and resiliency in a new culture.

This June, during World Refugee Awareness Month, BuildaBridge launched its second season of arts programming for Nationalities Services Center's Refugee Employment and Advancement Program (REAP). In addition, BuildaBridge provided a pilot art workshop for Iraqi mothers and children, re-started a summer term with refugee children from Myanmar of Burmese Chin and Karen ethnicities, and closed its first term with immigrant survivors of torture through PPR. In each of BuildaBridge's Refugee Project's programs, artists facilitate art-making experiences towards improved community mental health that facilitates the development of refugees' identities in new cultures, assists ethnic groups in strengthening their capacities and community cohesion and assists individuals in making tangible contributions to their new communities.

BuildaBridge is eager to announce the launch of the Refugee Project's fifth year of programming beginning July 1st along with global examples of how the transformative power of the arts has ignited change, transformation and mutual understanding:

NSC celebrates World Refugee Day
Handcrafted Wares
Stories of Migration
Survivors of Torture artwork
Advocacy Refugee Exhibit

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Why is art important for refugee children?

For refugee children, art-making experiences within the BuildaBridge Classroom model have helped them identify adjustment strategies, build on their personal strengths and build resiliency in a new culture. S is a 10-year old Bhutanese refugee girl who has been attending BuildaBridge groups since they started in August 2011 with almost near perfect attendance. In the almost three years of her attending groups, through art-making, S has made significant progress in all of the BuildaBridge outcome areas (social, character development, artistic and academic). As an illustration of the development of her social skills, S has improved relations with her younger brother with whom she is often competitive. This has been an ongoing growth area the therapists have been addressing. During the past two years, S has physically participated less in the movement experiences when other girls are not in attendance. During this third year of programming and as an illustration of her increased character...

Japanese Shoji Lanterns

A discussion surrounding the word “rebuild” emerged. Is it to build again with new materials or does it suggest rebuilding again from the pieces that have fallen? On a quiet Sunday afternoon five individuals gathered around a table from four different countries, representing three different languages (4 if you’re counting dialect), and spanning three different generations. Through our partnership with the Nationalities Service Center/Philadelphia Partnership for Resilience (NSC/PPR) collaborative, art therapists have facilitated groups for about nine months that explore the past, present, and future for individuals who are immigrants. The past few weeks have been devoted to constructing Japanese Shoji lanterns, with a culminating tea ceremony. Patience, focus, and creative problem solving were just a few virtues challenged by this 3 dimensional project that prompted a lively discussion about selfless rebuilding for the sake of younger generations. The question initially posed about the...

Cocoons of Paper Mache

Check out photos from our latest Bhutanese children's group this past Sunday. Children started working on their cocoons out of paper mache...an extension of the lesson on Monarch butterflies, their transitions from a caterpillar to a butterfly and how we go through changes in life just like the butterflies.

BuildaBridge Community Programs

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